"Not Venice but not far off." a Nyaungshwe Travel Page by planxty

I would think that the vast majority of people who come to Myanmar would visit Inle Lake, at least briefly, and it's certainly well worth seeing, it really is quite magical.

If you do visit the Lake, you have a couple of options of where to base yourself. The first option is to go to one of the upmarket, and consequently expensive, lakeside resorts. These are undoubtedly luxurious, although there are the obvious implications of this type of place in Myanmar.

The other option is to stay in Nyaungshwe, at the North end of the lake, and visit from there. This is certainly the way that most backpackers go.

I found Nyaungshwe to be a delightful place. Although obviously very much dependent on the tourist trade, it retains a charm and quite easy-going attitude. A short walk will take you to villages where Westerners are very obviously a rare sight given the reaction of the local people. There are a host of places to stay and a number of very good restaurants. It also has a good representation amongst the travel agent fraternity, and you can easily arrange any onward travel here, as well as all the local excursions.

Nyaungshwe obviously is a very water based environment. There are canals and boats everywhere. Just a word of warning - choose carefully where you stay! A waterside location may sound idyllic, but the longtail boats can be very noisy, and they start running early in the morning - not conducive to a good lie-in.

Altogether Nyaungshwe is a great base to visit Inle Lake.

I mentioned trips on the lake and walks to the lakeside villages in the previous paragraph, and you may wonder why you can't find the tips included in these pages. The reason is purely technical. The VT directory (if that is the correct term) allows for pages on both Nyaungshwe and Inle Lake, although in reality, the two are virtually synonymous. Any tips relating to the lake or the lakeside villages I have included on an Inle Lake page (to be constructed) and tips about the town proper are included here. Just to add a little further confusion, Nanthe, which is effectively a "suburb" of Nyaungshwe, also has a VT location, so there are a few tips there as well.

Hope this makes sense.